The Good, the Evil, and the Power of Lie.
Centuries ago, good, evil, and lies had a whole different meaning than what .
they do today. During the time that events in The Crucible had taken place, .
the Puritan community had a lack of tolerance for anything that was not, in .
their opinions, good and pure behavior. Though there is not much good .
happening in the play, the three aspects of the play, good, evil, and lies, .
were represented by each character in the book. Some of the characters held .
more than one of these qualities at a time. Some of the Salem Puritans were .
honestly good people, some deep down were evil sinners, while the rest used .
the power of lie to protect their stainless names.
A good individual is what one in the Puritan community wanted and needed to .
be in order to live a normal life. A true Puritan attended church regularly .
and prayed during their spare time. Anything considered ungodly or to be the .
slightest sin, such as plowing on a Sunday, was not sanctioned. If one kept a .
secret or did anything that seemed wrong to the church, the whole community .
felt that they had a right to know. There was nowhere to hide because the .
Puritans were so apt to find sin, they would eventually make one feel so bad .
that they would break down and confess, even if it gave them a reputation that .
they did not really deserve.
.
.
In The Crucible, it is very hard to find a strictly "good" Puritan. One .
person that I find to actually be considered good is Reverend John Hale. He .
was a man of the church and came to Salem to help the people. When people .
were being accused of witchcraft, he tried to help them while sticking to his .
Puritan values and beliefs. He did not lie to the people or to himself. He .
listened to the people, heard their stories, and tried not to judge them. .
Also he was a reverend which is a really righteous Puritan quality.
Another person that could also be considered good is Elizabeth Proctor.